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TNTTFD STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ENOGH E. MULLINER, OF NEV YORK, N. Y.

REEFING SAILS.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 23,776, dated April 26, 1859.

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, ENOCH E. MULLINER, of the city, county, and State ofNew York, have invented certain new and Improved Means of Reeling andShortening Sails in Ships and other Vessels; and I do hereby declarethat the following is a full, clear, l

and eXact description of the same, reference being had to theaccompanyingdrawings, forming part of this specification, in which-Figure l, is a back view of a ships top sail, topmast, and head of lowermast, illustrating my invention and showing the whole sail spread. Fig.2, is a side view, corresponding with Fig. l. Fig. 3, is a centralsection showing the lower part o f the sail furled. Fig. 4, is a sideview which represents either a schooners mainsail or a ships or brigsspanker, also illustrating my invention.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the severalfigures.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I willproceed to describe its construction and operation.

A, Figs. l, 2, and 3, is the lower mast; B, the topmast; C, the mainyard; and C, the topsail yard, all of which are intended to beconstructed and applied in the usual manner.

D, E, Figs. l, 2, and 3, is the topsail, divided horizontally into twoparts, the lower part E, of which is litted to the upper part like whatis known to seamen as a bonnet, and sometimes applied to jibs and lugsails; loops a, a, being attached near the upper margin of the lowerpart E, to pass through eyes in the upper part D, and interlace witheach other in such a manner as to be secured by one knot or key, likethe usual method of attaching bonnets to sails. The upper part D, of thesail constitutes a complete sail without the lower part E, the saidupper part being secured to the yard C', in the usual manner and havingroller clues b, applied at its lower corners to receive the reefpennants c, c, which are attached by one end to the yard C, and passthence through said roller clues, thence downward under pulleys d, (l,attached to the yard C, and thence through blocks c, e, attached to themast, and below these blocks they should have reef tackles attached. Thelower part E, of the sail is intended to be attached to the yard C, bysheets, after the manner of an ordinary topsail, but these sheets arenot represented in the drawing.

When the two parts D, and E, of the sail are secured together and spreadas shown in Figs. 1, and 2, they are equivalent to a single sail. lhenitis required to shorten sail, the yard C', is lowered by the halyard f,andthe reef pennants hauled taut by the hands on deck, to bring theclues of the upper part D, close to the yard; the reef pennants thenconstituting sheets to the upper part D, of the sail, which thenconstitutes of itself a complete sail. This leaves the lower part E,slack in front of the yard and free to be disconnected from the upperpart when it is convenient to send' men aloft to unloose the knot or keywhich fastens all the loops a, a, which permits the lower part E, to befurled snugly to the yard C, so that it will not chafe like the reef ofan ordinary sail. The lower part E, should be connected again to theupper part before hauling up 'the yard C, in order to spread it again.

l The fore-and-aft sail F, Gr, represented in Fig. 4 is made in twoparts F, and G, of which the top of the upper part F is attached to thegaff H, in the same manner as the top of an ordinary fore-andaft sail,and the bottom of the lower part G, is attached to the boom I, in thesame manner as the bottom of an ordinary foreandaftr sail. The two partsF, G, are connected by loops a, a, like the two parts of the square sailabove described, to make them constitute the equivalent of a single sailwhen spread. The outer lower corner of the sail has attached to it aroller clue b, through which passes a reef pennant 0, which is attachedto the boom near its extremity, and which passes upward therefrom to andthrough the roller clue b, and thence down to and under a pulley d,attached to the boom. lThis pennant should have a reef tackle applied toit. To reef or take in the lower part of the sail, the gali is loweredby the throat and peak halyards h, z', in the saine manner as the gaf ofan ordinary fore-andaft sail and the roller clue is hauled down to theboom by means of the reef tackle c. The lower part Gr, is thendisconnected by unloosing the knot or key which secures all the loops a,0 and is furled and made fast to the boom leaving the upper part F,entirely independent so as to constitute, to all intents and purposes, acomplete sail. It may be side of the part Gr, of the sail, and leave thelatter entirely free of it, as the upper part F is being hauled down tothe boom; thus permitting the part G to be furled without interferingwith or being interfered with by the upper part F.

One advantage of my invention, in its application to fore-and-aft sails,is that it prevents any chafing of the sail on the boom, which isunavoidable with ordinary foreand-aft sails when reefed. The sameadvantage also results from its application to square sails. Many otheradvantages of my improvement might also be stated, among which are thefollowing:

By the division of the sail as described, the surface of canvaspresented to the wind is stronger than if it were a single sheet likethe common sail; this is owing to the necessary employment of foot andtop ropes of the respective parts D, F, where they unite.

Bly improvement permits the shortenw ing-in of sail in a very briefspace of time, without altering the vessels course and without sendingmen aloft. It also requires a less number of men to shorten-in or makesail than the common rig. These advantages are evident, because, insteadof letting down the yard on to the mast-head, or lowering the boom upondeck as the old plan of reefing requires, it is only necessary to lowerthe yard or boom far enough to bring the clues of the upper part of thesail down to the under yard or boom. Thus there is little or nohoisting-up of the boom or yard to be done after the sail is shortened.Under the old plan of reefng, whether schooner or square rig, it isoften a matter of great difficulty, if not impossibility, to raise theboom or yard to its place after reeing. This difculty is increased inproportion to the violence of the wind and waves. If the sails areloaded with ice, the trouble is greatly augmented. Icev sometimesentirely prevents reeng under the old plan, owing to the impossibilityof lifting or bending or tying the reef-points around the sail to theyard. The result is that the vessel must run before the gale, and

drive out to sea again, even when nigh a safe harbor; or perhaps hermasts are carried away and the ship is driven upon the rocks, a pitiablewreck. My improvement obviates all these difficulties; because no matterhow violent the gale, or how much loaded with ice the sail may be, allthat is necessary to shorten-in is to lower the yard or boom just farenough to bring the clues of the upper part of the sail down to theunder yard or boom. When this is done, and the emergency is such thatthe lower part of the sail cannot readily be secured, it is onlynecessary to sever the key (a) with a knife and let the lower part ofthe sail blow away.

The old plan requires that a large number of men shall be sent aloftupon the yard in order to shorten sail. The great danger to life and thelong space of time that is sometimes involved in this operation are sowell known as to require no demonstration here. My improvement entirelyremoves this great diculty in the way of mariners; since my planrequires no men to be sentaloft, and renders the operation of shorteningsail easy and expeditious, even under the most trying circumstances ofsea and wind.

My improvement does not add to the parts of a vessels rig and thusrender it more complicated than before; but my plan dispenses with anumber of parts and so simplilies the whole.

I do not claim, broadly, the invention of the bonnet, as that has beenapplied to jibs and lug sails. But

lhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is:

The combination of the divided sail D, E, or F, G, with reef penna-nts(c), roller clues (L), pulleys (CZ), and yard or boom C, I, as and forthe purpose herein shown and described.

ENOCH E. MULLINER.

Witnesses IVM. 'IUs0HL, W. HAUFF.

